


Birthday Wish

by VulpesVulpes713



Series: Fictober 2018 [12]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, Fictober 2018, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, keiths bday, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 17:24:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16580831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VulpesVulpes713/pseuds/VulpesVulpes713
Summary: Prompt:“This is not new, it only feels like it.”





	Birthday Wish

Keith had never been one to celebrate his birthday. In fact he’d actively avoided it, only nodding in agreement if someone found out.

 _“Oh! Today is your birthday?”_  they would ask, and he would smile, strained and offhandedly, before walking away before anything more could be said.

He didn’t like calling attention to himself on a regular basis, much less for an  _entire day._  And he’d never really understood why people found it necessary to congratulate someone on being born. If anything, the  _mother_  should be the one getting the day to themselves.

And don’t even get him  _started_  on the gifts, and the cake, and the balloons…god. He hated it. It was awkward. Cringey. Something to avoid at all costs.

Or so he’d thought.

And then he’d met Lance.

Lance, who’d been so surprised when he’d learned the date of Keith’s birth, who’d gone out of his way to let the others know…to somehow convince them to take the day off to celebrate.

Hunk had baked a cake, Pidge had hacked the lighting system of the ship-back when that was still a thing-to flicker on and off like Christmas window displays, and Shiro, Allura, and Coran had decorated Red’s bay-back when Keith had been her pilot.

And Lance…Lance had made him a bracelet out of thread taken from one of the cargo holds: crimson and soft, interwoven with black and silver. And in the middle of it, a single blue bead, which Keith learned later had come from a keychain Lance’s nephew had made him. Something precious. Something priceless.

And here he was, giving it away to Keith for a present.

 _“Because you’re special too,”_  Lance had said once they were alone.  _“And now you can carry a piece of me with you.”_

Keith had never cherished anything so immediately-so  _fiercely-_  as that bracelet, but the greatest gift of all had been the love he had felt. And it got him thinking that maybe  _that_  was the reason people were so fond of birthdays. It wasn’t about being honoured for making it through another year, for aging…because those weren’t really things people tended to make a big out of themselves. What really mattered was having the ones who care about you around, together, eating and laughing and showing  _their_  excitement towards your birth.

 _“We’re happy you’re alive,”_  is what a birthday meant.  _“And we’re here to celebrate that fact!”_

Keith didn’t mind birthdays so much after that, and it didn’t matter where they were, or what they were doing….somehow they always found time to honour the occasion.

But it was Lance who found the time to make it special. He made sure everyone on the team was properly celebrated on their birthdays, no matter what, and it was one of the many things about him that had Keith falling so deeply in love.

And he kept that bracelet. For years. Through battles and fights and the entirety of the war…he kept it. And when he and Lance started officially dating after everything was done, he wore it more often. He was proud of it, even if Lance grew embarrassed every time he saw it wrapped snug around Keith’s wrist.

 _“You know I can make you a better one, right?”_  He’d suggest, but Keith would shake his head, touching the blue bead fondly as he smiled.

_“No. Never. I like this one. I’ll wear it forever.”_

And of course, as fate would have it, the bracelet broke not long after that. Because the universe, despite Keith having  _saved it’s ass multiple times_ , didn’t seem to be keeping any sort of score. It broke his bracelet, and with it a piece of Keith’s heart.

But Lance had consoled him. And he’d said something that had lingered with Keith since.

_“Thread fades, but beads last forever. Don’t worry about the bracelet. It means more to me than you could ever know that you’ve kept it intact for this long. I love you for that. So much.”_

So Keith kept it: locked it in an ornate little box on his and Lance’s dresser. And whenever Lance was away on a diplomatic intergalactic meeting or mission, Keith would take it out and feel the love that went into every knot, the adoration that had Lance so selflessly giving up a part of himself in the form of that little blue bead.

Holding that bracelet was almost as good as holding Lance himself. Not quite…but it was close, driving the loneliness away with the feel of familiar soft thread beneath calloused fingertips.

And it’s on such a night, when his heart is aching in Lance’s absence, that Keith decides he needs to hold the bracelet again. He feels empty without his boyfriend around, cold….and there’s a lingering anxiety that accompanies any sort of distance that keeps them apart. Because Keith has been fighting in wars long enough to know that the only assurance of someone’s safety is holding them tightly in your arms.

Everything after that is a gamble.

And maybe he’s feeling  _extra_  dismal because it’s his birthday. And without Lance around it’s nothing special. It’s just another day, and he finds himself reverting to his old habits of simply nodding and walking away when someone wishes him well.

But he can’t really bring himself to care. Not when Lance isn’t around.

So he lifts the lid of the box he keeps the bracelet in-eager to be rid of the lingering melancholy filling the room-only to find it empty.

Gone.

Just like that.

And Keith searches harder for that bracelet than anything else. He checks the drawers, and under the bed. He goes through every pocket on every pair of pants in his and Lance’s shared closet-no small feat-and still comes up empty handed.

At one point there are tears, but Keith wipes at them angrily, determined not to give up just yet.

Because he  _needs_  that bracelet. It’s his piece of Lance-the first he’d ever been so privileged to receive. And it’s precious to him. He  _needs_  it.

_I’ll find it. It has to be here somewhere._

He’s in the middle of turning over their mattress when he hears a throat being cleared behind him. He spins, and the breath is knocked from his lungs quicker than a punch to the gut. Because there he is! Lance!

But-

“H-How?”

His expression must be as bewildered as Keith feels, because Lance starts laughing, and then he’s stepping forward to engulf him in a hug.

“I left early,” he explains, patting Keith’s hair fondly. “I couldn’t  _not_  be here to celebrate your birthday.”

“You came all the way back to Earth in a day just for me?” Keith asks, perplexed and a little shocked. Because Lance is here. Right here. And he wasn’t supposed to back until the day after next.

The happiness is slow to catch up to the confusion, but Lance helps speed it along.

Because he’s kissing him. And fireworks erupt behind Keith’s eyes as he sinks into it.  _God_  he’d missed him! How the  _hell_  did he ever survive without him?!

“Of course I would,” Lance whispers when they break apart: Keith lightheaded and giddy as he sways in Lance’s arms, forgetting entirely to what Lance is referring to. “And I…I had a question I couldn’t wait any longer to ask.”

“A…question?” Keith blinks, sobering as he sees the serious expression Lance is wearing. It’s made worse when he’s instructed to sit, which Keith does with shaking knees.

_What is going on? What sort of question-_

“Keith?” Lance clears his throat, reaching into his pocket as he rubs his neck nervously. But before Keith’s fears can grow into anything significant, Lance gets down on one knee, and the words are barely out of his mouth before Keith is replying. “Will you mar-”

“Yes!” Keith squeals, and Lance bursts out laughing as he’s tackled to the ground in a hug. “Yes,  _fuck._..of course!”

“You didn’t even let me finish!” Lance complains, but he’s grinning, cheeks pink and eyes bright. “What if I was going to ask you something else?”

“Were you?” Keith questions, leaning back as Lance sits up. He wraps his arms around that slender neck he loves painting with marks and raises a brow when Lance blushes. “Hmm?”

“Well…no,” Lance confesses, “but I was  _super_  nervous about asking and you freakin-you stole my thunder! I’ve been a ball of anxiety for the past  _month_  and-”

“Wait,” Keith interrupts, pressing a finger to brown lips. “You’ve been wanting to ask me to marry you for a  _month?!”_

Because there’s no way. Keith can’t process that kind of information.

“Longer than a month babe,” Lance murmurs slyly, and Keith explodes. His cheeks burn, and he finds salvation in Lance’s neck, where he promptly hides his face after a high-pitched whine escapes his throat.

Lance wraps his arms around him tight, laughing again as he urges Keith to stand.

“Here, Keith-” he has him sit back down on the edge of the bed, which Keith does as he fails to bite back his own grin. “Let me do it properly, okay?”

Keith nods. It’s all he can do. And Lance kneels again, taking out a small box and holding it in both hands as he gazes up into Keith’s eyes.

“Keith,” he whispers, but the words are crisp and clear, like shouting in an amphitheater. Keith is held by them. Caressed by them. He melts with Lance’s voice, and has to remind himself to  _not_  to kiss the man in front of him. Not yet, anyway. “You’re the love of my life. Every day I wake up and think that I must be the luckiest guy on Earth to have been chosen by you. And then I shake my head and correct myself. Because no. I’m not the luckiest man on Earth.”

And, oh… That has Keith frowning slightly-

“I’m the luckiest man in the universe.”

Nevermind. He’s a puddle of affection again. And somehow he keeps himself in place as Lance goes on.

“I want that very same universe to know that I got the best of the best. That he’s mine, and they can’t have him.” And Lance reaches out, taking Keith’s hand in his own as tears begin to blur Keith’s eyes. But he’s smiling.

 _God_ is he smiling.

“And I want to show everyone that we meet that we’re together. That we have eachothers backs and hearts and-” and Lance is beginning to choke up now as well, so Keith sinks to the floor to be closer. Lance allows it, and presses their foreheads together.

“I want them to know that you’re my everything. And I don’t want to introduce you to them as my boyfriend anymore. I want to call you my husband. My soulmate. My one and only….”

A tear spills over his cheek, and Keith tenderly wipes it away. Not that he’s any better. He’s spilling buckets of salty water at this point.

“So Keith-” Lance clears his throat again, steeling himself as he leans back and focuses on the box he’s holding. “Will you do me the honour…the absolute  _privilege_ , or becoming mine? Will you marry me, Keith?”

He doesn’t answer this time. There’s no real need, seeing as his lips can convey his response just as well.

So he lets them, and it’s wet, and salty, and messy by all standards. But it’s the best kiss of his life. It’s his first kiss as Lance’s fiancé. His future husband.

And then something is slipped onto his finger, and Keith breaks apart just enough to glance down.

A ring, silver and carved with intricate leaves, shines brightly against his skin. But it’s the stone that has him gasping.

It’s small, and a brilliant blue. And…somehow it’s familiar, almost like he’s seen it before.

“Lance, where-”

“ **This is not new,** ” Lance explains, smiling thoughtfully down at the ring.” **It only feels like it.** ”

And before Keith can even ask what that means he gets it. The familiarity of the stone, the colour, the sense of peace it carries within it…

It’s the bead from his bracelet. The one he’d thought he lost.

“Lance-when did you-” but he breaks off, grasping for words as overwhelming emotions surge through him. “I thought I’d lost it-”

Lance kisses him again, but it’s just a brief moment of lip on lip. He’s beaming too much to allow anything more.

“I know how much you loved that bracelet, for whatever reason,” he chuckles, but it fades just as quick. “And I know how sad you were when it broke. But it’s like I said before: thread fades-”

“-but beads last forever.” Keith finishes, and stares up at Lance with teary eyes.

“And so will our love,” Lance breathes, holding his gaze for what feels like a tiny eternity. Keith could easily get lost in those eyes. He wouldn’t even mind. But blue flickers away eventually, and Keith follows where they go, back down to the ring on his hand. “I’m glad you like it. I was a bit worried that you’d find it cheesy or something-”

“Never.” Keith cuts him off, catching Lance’s hand in his own and squeezing tight. “I love it. It’s perfect. I’m never taking it off, ever.”

Lance chuckles, but it’s fond. It’s velvet, and it chimes pleasantly in Keith’s ears as he watches Lance trace over the ring with his finger.  

“And this time the band won’t break. It shouldn’t at least, given the Olkari made it.”

“They did?”

Lance nods, winking as he presses a kiss to Keith’s fingers.

“They did. This bad boy is woven out of that one plant you liked so much the last time we were there. I had to trudge through the forest to find the perfect specimen though, and then-”

Keith cuts him off with a kiss, swallowing the rest of his sentence as his tears spill over. He’s overjoyed. He’s beyond words. All he feels is this all-encompassing  _love_  for Lance. For the sentiment he placed in the ring. For the thought that went into every little detail. For him in general….for being Lance.

For being his.

“I love you,” he murmurs when they part for breath. “I love you, Lance.  _I love you-”_

“I know,” Lance winks, and stands, taking Keith’s hand to help him up. “I love you too. But now it’s time for you to open your gift.”

“My…this wasn’t it?”

And Lance snorts, stepping towards the center of the room.

“That was a  _proposal_  you doofus. Just bonus stuff. The  _real_  gift is right-” He spins, pointing to himself as he wags his brows in Keith’s direction. “-here!”

Keith can’t help himself. He giggles, rolling his eyes as he moves over to Lance.

“Is that so?” he teases, trailing his finger down the zipper of Lance’s jacket. “And does this… _gift_  mind if I unwrap it now?”

Lance flushes, but he hides it well as he lowers his tone and hooks his fingers into Keith’s belt loops.

“He doesn’t mind at all. In fact, he kinda wishes you’d hurry it up.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“And  _you’re_  my future husband, so get on with it birthday boy.”

Keith feels his heart convulse, and the flame within him scorches the inside of his ribcage. But he doesn’t mind. It’s a good heat. A fire he willingly fuels: one only Lance can ignite.

“Now  _that_ …” he mumbles, caressing Lance’s cheek with his newly adorned hand, wondering how many times a day he’ll catch himself staring at the ring-that little piece of Lance he gets to carry with him forever.  _Forever._ Because it won’t break this time. There’s no thread to fade.

Only the little blue bead that Keith has loved for so long. 

“…Is something to celebrate.”


End file.
